Otto Klemperer was born on 14th May 1885 in Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland) and died on 6th July 1973 in Zurich and hence next year we mark 40 years since his passing. Although disfigured by a stroke suffered whilst a brain tumour was being removed he became a world-renowned conductor whose recordings became and remain touchstones for the EMI catalogue.

Few other composers’ music enjoys such enormous popularity and is as frequently performed on stages worldwide and recorded as that of Antonín Dvořák. And it is the symphonic works that are connected with his name most often.

This album of Mozart opera overtures will certainly delight the Mozart fan, as performed by La Cetra Barockorchester Basel under the baton of Andrea Marcon. This is indeed an orchestra that understands Mozart; the musicians utilize excellent technique and solid musicianship that respects Mozart's phrasing and dynamics. Apollo et Hyacinthus is sweet, light, and almost Baroque in character, as is La finta semplice, therefore these pieces are fitting for a Baroque orchestra.

The Trio Wanderer pays tribute to Dvorák and his last two trios. Alongside the sombre interiority and fiery intensity of the Trio No. 3 in F minor, this programme presents a new version of the famous Dumky Trio, to which the Wanderers owed their first great success on record. Passionate and melancholy by turns, it is also the most innovative and the freest of Dvorák’s trios. A fine symbol for the Trio Wanderer, which has just reached its 30th year of existence without ever ceasing to surprise and touch us. Happy anniversary and hats off!

This is a very significant historical reissue and Naxos and sound restorer Mark Obert-Thorn deserve warm thanks for bringing it back and cheap (Pearl had issued the same Dvorak in the mid-1990s, together with Feuermann's earlier recording of only the second and third movements of the Haydn Concerto under Frieder Weissmann, but it now sells at hefty prices on the marketplace, The Young Feuermann).

Dvorak’s enchanting fairytale of the water-nymph Rusalka has been a signature role for Renée Fleming for the past 25 years. The Gramophone Classical Music Guide writes: “Renée Fleming's tender and heartwarming account of Rusalka's Song to the Moon reflects the fact that the role of the lovelorn water nymph, taken by her in a highly successful production at the MET in New York, has become one of her favourites”.

American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, described by BBC Music Magazine as one of the most extraordinary soloists of her generation, follows her critically acclaimed Decca debut recording of Elgar s Cello Concerto with a vital new interpretation of Dvorak s Cello Concerto, coupled with some of his best-known melodies.